All posts tagged ‘GenCon’

Dakster Sullivan is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Star Wars Celebration VI. Her family has one more troop before the event and then all their energy will be spent getting ready for the biggest Star Wars party in the galaxy. Her son’s jawa costume is in its final stages and he’s excited to get his little jawa groove on.

Nicole Wakelin is at GenCon this weekend and will be playing all the games. You can catch her at the Women in Gaming panel on Friday at 4 p.m.

Rebecca Angel is back from the beach and not at all tan because she wore an amazingly large hat the entire time, which induced many jealous looks from the other beach-goers, either that or the sun was in everyone’s eyes. And now she is leaving to perform at Pi-Con with her daughter in their band The Subs, and also sell some TeaPunk to all the friendly geeks there. Hope to see you!

One of Laura‘s sons is on the front porch teaching himself stone carving using a grave marker (bought as a “second” from a headstone shop). Another is collecting antique welders for an eventual museum. Another is on a campaign to bring back words like “tarnation” and “dagnabbit.” And her daughter insists that she’s the victim of a horse fly vendetta. Laura continues to pretend her family is normal.

With less than two weeks left to Dragon*Con, Ruth is spending all of her spare time working on her Ravenna costume while her husband works on his N7 armor. She’s also pondering Raspberry Pi projects with an eye on Maker Faire NY next month.

Chaos Mandy is gearing up for Dragon*Con! She is working out what costumes she wants to wear, what panels she wants to go to and wondering what questions will be asked at the GeekMom/GeekDad panel that will be happening on Friday, August 31!

Kelly Knox had a blast at GeekGirlCon 2012! Sitting on the geeky parenting panel with Cathe was enjoyable and thought-provoking. The panels with Greg Rucka, Jill Pantozzi, and Gail Simone were riveting, although Kelly was sad to miss Bryan Q. Miller on the second day of the con. She’s already looking forward to next year.

This week GeekMom Nicole Wakelin is joined by fellow GeekMom Mandy Horetski to talk about some upcoming conventions and how to manage them with the kids in tow. Mandy is attending Dragon*Con at the end of the month and Nicole is at GenCon right now playing all the games. Listen in as they talk about the things they’re most looking forward to, how to manage those scary cosplay moments, and what each con has to offer to people with families. They also talk about their various panels so you can stop by and say hello!

In episode two Nicole Wakelin and ”Chaos” Mandy Horetski talk about the perils and benefits of exposing your kids to zombie cosplay, attending Dragon*Con while pregnant (it can be done) and the fun of collecting autographs. Questions? Thoughts? Suggestions? Email podcast@geekmom.com

(Note: Mandy was bit soft at the start, but it levels out within a minute or two. I blame zombies.)

One of the benefits of attending GenCon is that you can pick up copies of games before they’re scheduled to be in retail stores. I walk through the aisles very carefully, trying not to be lured in by something that I can simply buy as soon as I get home. Star Trek Fleet Captains, by WizKids, is not due on store shelves for at least 6 more weeks so it fit my requirements and was therefore carefully transported back with me at the end of the convention. Yesterday, I was thrilled to have a chance to play it through for the first time.

Starfleet Ships with Reference Cards

What struck me about it just while watching the demos was that ships and characters from different shows and movies were on the table together. Star Trek Fleet Captains lets you create a fleet made up of the Enterprise A, Voyager and even the Enterprise E, which is just plain fun if you’re a Trekkie. In all, you’ll get 12 Federation and 12 Klingon ships, each with a Clix dial on the base that let’s you adjust shields, weapons, sensors and engines as you battle each other to accomplish your missions.

You can choose to bump up your shields in anticipation of your opponent’s attack, but that may also cause a huge reduction in your engines or weapons. The choice is up to you and will be completely dependent on the cards you draw and the battles you fight. There’s also a reference card for each ship, so you can see exactly what you sacrifice and gain with each turn of the dial, as well as showing your limited options after minor damage (Yellow Alert) or major damage (Red Alert).

The hexagonal tiles of the game board

The board itself is made up of hexagonal tiles that are shuffled and then placed face down to create the space between the two factions. As you move across the board, tiles are flipped revealing the details of that location. It could be a Class-M planet that you choose to control so you can build an Outpost and have a place to repair damaged ships. It might be a Class J Nebula or even just Empty Space which also comes with the quote “Space….the final frontier.” Depending on the speed of your ship, you can move several tiles a turn, but be wary. There are unfriendly tiles out there that will cause damage to your ship if you remain on them at the end of your turn.

Tribbles Encounter Card

As each tile is flipped, a die is rolled to determine if you must draw an Encounter card. If you do draw a card and win the encounter you earn precious Victory Points which are needed to win the game, but if you fail then there’s trouble. I ended up with tribbles on one ship after a failed Encounter. Silly things disabled two of my systems and wreaked havoc on my ability to complete my missions. I got rid of them by increasing powers to my sensors, playing a Masterful Bluff card to avoid a Klingon ship, and then transporting the tribbles over to the unwitting Klingons before warping out of that sector. That kind of moment, when you get to do things that feel like they’re right out of the show, makes this game a heck of a lot of fun.

An incredible number of cards and tokens along with the twenty-four ships in this box make this game infinitely replayable. You get 76 mission cards, some revealed so you have a chance to thwart your opponent but others a secret so you’re left guessing. There are also 50 Encounter cards and 200 Command cards that can enhance the abilities of your ship. Each is perfectly themed to the people and items they represent.

Wesley Crusher and Captain Kirk

Command cards give you crew members like Wesley Crusher enhancing engines and shields, Quark adding influence, Spock increasing sensor power and Kirk letting you do the impossible. It’s exactly what you’d expect of these characters! Then there are the Encounter cards with the tribbles I mentioned earlier, as well as Dilithium crystals to increase engine speed, Tachyon Pulses to mess with cloaking and Ferengi traders that offer you deals you can’t, but should, refuse.

The gameplay is fun and really gets moving once you’ve had a chance to run through the rules which can be downloaded direct from WizKids before you even make the purchase. The box says it takes ninety minutes to play and we went just over that on our first time out. It can be played with 2 or 4 players, ages 14 and up, who form up into teams and retails for $100. Yes, that’s a steep price, but consider the number of ships alone, then add in all the cards and tokens, and it’s not unreasonable. Also, the huge number of card combinations means this is a different game every time you play and won’t sit in your closet neglected after a few tries. The replayability and spot-on theming make Star Trek Fleet Captains a great game to add to your collection.

If you like board games, have a bag with more dice than you could ever possibly need at one time, and have considered adding on to your house just to store it all, then GenCon was the place to be last weekend. This was the 44th year for GenCon Indianapolis “The Best Four Days in Gaming” and it was overflowing with games, games, games!

Held in the recent remodeled Indiana Convention Center, this convention boasts four days of demos, previews, and panels but more importantly, around-the-clock gaming. Once the exhibit halls close for the evening, gamers spill out into the rooms, hallways and hotel lobbies around the center and game throughout the night. You’ll find people at the bar playing Magic, clusters of folks around tables in the lobby with the latest board games spread out in front of them and rooms with all-night tournaments in the convention center itself. The only problem with all this gaming goodness is that you go to sleep in the wee hours of the morning knowing that you are, without a doubt, missing out on something.

Neverwinter

The exhibit hall floor was filled with booths selling dice and the ubiquitous kilts as well as those demoing the latest and greatest in games. Fantasy Flight Games had a huge series of booths where you could play pre-release games like Gears of War (which lucky con-goers could buy on the spot) and the recently announced Star Wars X-Wing miniatures game which isn’t due out until sometime next year. At Privateer Press you could get your picture taking with a giant Warjack before getting in a demo, and at Wizards of the Coast you could take in Neverwinter and play a live-action round of Dungeons and Dragons complete with costumed monsters to slay.

If you’re a gamer and you missed GenCon this year, then you need to consider putting it on your itinerary next summer. With the newly remodeled convention center, this convention is sure to grow and improve and I can’t wait for next August. It’s a fantastic opportunity to see what’s about to come out in the world of gaming, get your hands on some titles early (to make your friends jealous) and have a ridiculous amount of fun despite a complete lack of sleep.

(Check out my Total Fan Girl Facebook page for photos of all the GenCon action!)